Hanuman Chalisa Row: MP Navneet Kaur, MLA Ravi Rana sent in 14-day judicial custody

A Mumbai court on Sunday rejected the city police’s demand for the custody of independent MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana and remanded the couple in 14-day judicial custody, an official said.

Navneet Rana will be sent to the Byculla women’s jail, while her husband will be sent to the Arthur Road jail, the official said.

The Mumbai police on Saturday evening arrested Badnera MLA Ravi Rana and his wife Navneet Rana, the MP from Amravati in Maharashtra, for allegedly “creating enmity between different groups”.

The development came hours after the couple cancelled their plan to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence ‘Matoshree’ here.

The Ranas were booked under Sections 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Section 135 of the Mumbai Police Act (violation of prohibitory orders of police), officials earlier said.

Both of them were on Sunday produced before a court in Bandra which sent them to judicial custody for 14 days, public prosecutor Pradip Gharat said.

“Charges under IPC Section 124-A (sedition) are made out against them as they had challenged the government machinery and made remarks against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray,” the prosecutor said.

The court will hear their bail application on April 29, he added.

Advocate Rizwan Merchant, representing Ranas, said, “Two separate FIRs were registered against the couple at Khar police station. All the charges are baseless and we will apply for bail.”